Chapter Four: walk me home?

After Sonic returned to the remaining group, and the four reached Tails workshop, they discussed their options. Tails insisted on walking Cream home and she was immensely grateful. After the young couple had headed out on their way, Sonic turned to Amy.

"I promised Knuckles I'd get back to the hospital as soon as I knew you were all safe…. But I could run you home if you need me to." Sonic offered. His posture showed he already was eager to get back to his friend.

Amy breathed out to calm her nerves. "No. It's okay Sonic. I can handle myself and Knuckles really needs you there right now."

"Thanks Ames." Sonic spoke with a tone of appreciation. He quickly raced off in the direction of the hospital he had so recently taken his two friends to, as Amy watched him leave with concern rising up inside her.

'I should have let him take me home, or at least see if Tails would have walked with me after escorting Cream to her house. Oh well, it's too late to fret now- I need to get myself home as quickly as I can before anything else happens.'

Amy had been walking through a forested area on her journey home, when she heard a rustling coming from the dense brush. She found herself terrified and pulled her hammer out, readying for the next attack.

"Come on! I dare you! You're not going to get me so easily this time you… you JERK!" She yelled with a faint panic to the tone of her voice.

A dark figure emerged from the bush beside her as a pair of intense red eyes flashed to her.

"You're not going to intimidate much of anyone if you continue to convulse as you are so doing."

Amy fearful eyes relaxed as she recognized her confronter.

"Oh thank goodness it's you Shadow! I was so scared you were one of those awful machines after me again!"

Shadow callously stared at her and looked as though he was infuriated by something, but Amy could not understand what. His calculating leer often stirred her in a way she didn't understand, but with her already on edge, she found everything concerned her.

Shadow closed his eyes and heaved a deep sigh. "Would you like me to escort you to your residence?"

Amy thoughtfully smiled coyly to him. "You don't have to if you don't want to." She did not want to pressure the surly male.

He contemplated her words for a moment and responded. "Come."

As they walked side by side together in silence, Amy found the lack of speech disquieting. In her nervousness, her gaze shifted around to preoccupy herself, and eventually her sight fell upon her darker companion. As her eyes traversed Shadow's onyx black body, she noticed one of his quills was extremely short and looked as though he must have lost one at some point in time. Amy found her hand rubbing the sensitive tissue where her own missing quills had been torn out.

"Um….Shadow? May I ask why your left quill is shorter than the other?"

Shadow's head snapped sharply to face her, taking note of where she was looking to on his body. He was not one to be known for sociability but the innocence of the pink female often kept him from relinquishing his temper on her. His eyes shifted to look down in the direction of his newly grown quill. "It was taken during a moment when I was inobservant."

He was not about to tell her that it was by a security robot as he left Robotnik's main headquarters. He was more angered by the fact that he lowered his guard enough to let it happen than the robot managing to do it, but all the same it paid the price for messing with the ultimate life form. He mutilated it beyond any repair and Robotnik would be lucky to be able to use the remainder for scraps. Before his cerise eyes returned their connection to Amy's emerald own, he noticed blood on her glove.

"You're bleeding." His voice carried a barely audible hint of concern.

"Yeah, these robots attacked us and one ripped my quill right out!" Amy complained, lifting her other quills to show the tender location.

Shadow eyes widened in some realization. 'He must be up to something, and I need to know what. The doctor is about to realize he made the mistake of involving me in his pathetic business as well.'

Shadow picked Amy up and cradled her in his arms. "You need to get that cleaned and in good condition as soon as possible." The onyx colored male took off and sped towards the city. "Direct me as I go." He stated to Amy as he raced through the town to her home, no idea which way he was heading. With her used to the speeds it was simple enough to point out the way. He would have preferred to Chaos Control there, but without an emerald of his own and having never even seen the rosy female's home, skating was their only option.

"Stop! Here." Amy pointed to a path off the main road just outside of town. Her home was well concealed by the dense trees of the road and was not easily seen without walking up the path. It was a quaint simple building, painted a white-grey with many varieties of flora surrounding it, and an inviting stone pathway to the front door on the right side of the house from the road. It did not directly face the street as most places did and something in that fact Shadow found agreeable, though he didn't fully understand why anything of Rose's residence should be of any matter to him.

"Would you like to join me for a short time?" Amy proposed to Shadow, who nodded his agreement.

This new divulgement of information by the pink hedgegirl had caught his interest- he needed to know everything he could about the predicament the two had somehow been tied into together. Besides that, of all the sources he could go to for information, he thought of her as the most agreeable. He had found himself calmer in her companionship when he would happen upon her, and had recently started to enjoy the moments she came his way. He actually traveled across common meeting grounds at times hoping he would meet up with her. Even though he felt this way, he still refused to let anyone find out his softening for the rose hedgehog and only faintly showed it to her, though she never saw it in her naivety towards him.

"Please sit and try to make yourself comfortable Shadow. I'll be back shortly- I want to clean up."

Shadow looked around. He always thought the perky girl would have filled her house with pink paint and feminine objects but that wasn't the case at all. It wasn't even the colors of her hero. Much like the outside, her home- at least the living room- was white with a modern style to it and shades of gray and black. The tables were glass. The couch he had sat on and the chair with an ottoman nearby were a supple deep gray and made of a soft and extremely comfortable fabric. The carpet was a softer shade of gray. The obsidian male never thought she would have such a taste of style- it appealed to him. He found this space all too agreeable and had relaxed dramatically by the time Amy finished.

When Amy returned to Shadow, his eyes were lightly closed and seemed to be resting serenely. She couldn't help but find the sight adorable, and began to notice just how handsome he really was as he continued his repose. Her mind flooded with thoughts of wanting to hold him and feel his fur under her hands. She found herself leaning forward and reaching out to touch his satiny patch of ivory fur that starkly contrasted his ebony body. As her bare fingers faintly pressed against his silken tuft of hairs, his eyes shot open. Amy was briefly startled by the intensity of his eyes and a faint gasp escaped her as she then tried to explain her actions.

"I-you had fallen asleep and I thought I should-"

Shadow's eyes scrutinized her thoroughly. She had showered and her fur was still damp- he could smell the mixture of water and a fragrant sweet aroma on her. He had never noticed until that moment how mature she had become. Amy wearing the soft, form fitting clothing she had on made it obvious. Her jade eyes were very warm and inviting. Shadow felt a flutter of emotions and sentiments pass over him. She was attractive- EXTREMELY attractive- and at that moment he realized that she did more than just "soften" him. Much more…

Amy stopped her yammering. He didn't seem upset but merely flustered. She nervously shifted and pointed with both arms, thumbs indicating to the kitchen. "Um, would you like some tea?"

Shadow snapped from his examination. "Yes- Please." He spoke in his usual mannerism. By the time he stepped into the kitchen he had completely regained his composure.

While Amy's living room had a modern style, the kitchen held a cozy homely feel. It also had a glass and metal table but there were plants and flowers around the room and the soft evening light mixed with the warm-toned colors of the room. While Shadow had enjoyed the living room, he felt welcomed in Amy's comfortable little kitchen. He wasn't used to this feeling of enjoyment by his surroundings, and though he was confused by his reaction to this place, he felt as though he would miss her little home.

Amy kept placing her eyes on Shadow as she sipped her tea. She was beginning to realize she was developing a crush on him and didn't want him to leave. As she continued to enjoy her tea, she noticed he had slowed his own intake, making her almost wonder if he could somehow be thinking the same.

Amy set down her cup briskly. "Shadow, where do you live?"

Shadow looked up to her and slowly set his cup down. He hated expressing anything about himself to others. The less they knew the better, but with Amy he felt like something in her made him willing to open up. "I suppose the answer would be nowhere. There is no particular location I stay. Wherever I stop at the end of the day is where I rest."

Amy gasped once more and noticeably this time. The idea that Shadow didn't have a home never occurred to her. She hated the thought of him stranded and left to whatever forces the weather threw his way.

"Will you stay here with me shadow? I mean- at least tonight." Amy blushed after her initial request. Shadow was not one to simply cave to anyone's requests, and the dark hedgehog permanently living there wasn't necessarily what she wanted either. "I mean, it would at least be one night out of the weather, and I'd feel safer after the day I've had…"

Shadow looked to the sky through the window for some time before finally looking back to her intently.

"Yes Rose. For tonight."